"The report shows that 40 per cent of the worst insulated properties could be improved for less than £1,500. These very cold, hard-to-heat homes are a serious health risk to people living in them. A recent poll for Friends of the Earth revealed tenants suffered most in the big freeze with half saying they felt uncomfortably cold at home. Houses rented from a landlord or lettings agency are the most likely to lack basics such as loft and cavity-wall insulation."

As George Monbiot argued earlier this week, this problem is only exacerbated by energy pricing that sees renters often paying more for prepay gas metering, as well as pricing structures that mean the first units of energy a household uses are often the most expensive.

Specifically, the FOE campaign, which has received backing from Manchester and Bristol City Councils, Age UK, Citizens Advice, Macmillan Cancer Support and housing charity Crisis, is calling on the Government to make it illegal to rent out dangerously cold homes by 2016. Just as we don't allow landlords to rent out homes that are fire-hazards, or car companies to sell vehicles with inadequate breaks, it's time we made sure all homes conform to a minimum safety standard when it comes to efficiency.